Chapter Two

New Beginnings

Faint green streams of light floated meekly through the underwater windows of the Slytherin dorm and casted seafoam shadows on the wooden four-poster bed. Serenity watched the glittering reflections dance on the wood as the rest of the Slytherin girls continued dreamless sleep. It was around 4:30 in the morning, or so she guessed. She was not accustom to sleeping near so many people before. All their mixed energy created a rather too exciting environment for sleep to come naturally to her. So apart from the tossing and turning, all she could really do that night is think about everything that had transpired.

After the sorting, she barely had an appetite, despite their being every food one could choose from. Instead, she wrote a letter to her father and tried to ignore the looks she continued to receive from around the hall. Apparently, the word of an old woman was not enough to satisfy the hungry minds of Hogwarts. Her letter was very brief, talking about her safe arrival. However, she carefully alluded her sorting. Serenity was not sure how the news of her being a Slytherin would go over with her father and she figured it would be best to wait and tell him over holiday when she could calm him if need be. She was worried that with current health, the news of her sorting would cause an episode, and she did, after all, love her father. Even if the recent little trickling thoughts in her mind told her that he did not feel the same.

4:45. Well, it was obvious that sleep was futile at that point, so instead of fighting a losing battle, Serenity took it upon herself to look presentable for her first day. She shuffled silently across the floor until she reached the lavatories, quite impressed that it was nothing like the stereotypical muggle public school lavatory that she had seen in movies. This one was very clean with polished, wooden doors that magically abstained from rot. Shiny green and silver tile floor reflected from several sets of spotless mirrors. The most shocking thing in the room was coincidentally the least cleanly section; a small, white outlet. This made Serenity raise a brow in astonishment. Although clearly unused, she never imagined that electricity would be an option at Hogwarts. Every source she ever read said that Hogwarts only used magic as a source of energy. Though with this new discovery, Serenity wondered if it was possible to send for some of her electric muggle devices. It would be nice to have that little bit of home with her.

Stepping up to the mirror, a ragged girl stared back. Eyes that were usually bright and green were glazed over and had bags pillowing underneath them. Her burgundy hair frizzed in strange clumps that made it look unwashed. Had she always been this pale or was this some recent development? Perhaps it was from all the hours she spent inside her manor instead of playing quidditch with the few people her father allowed her to be aquatinted with. She ran her fingers through her hair and scowled as she found a thing layer of grease coating. Quietly, she tiptoed back to her bed to gather some clean robes before she made her way to the shower.

Serenity let a sigh of relief pass her lips as the hot water washed away her stress. Nothing made her feel better than being enveloped in the steamy cocoon...well, she couldn't quite say that. There were things that made her feel better, but those muggle substances were in her past. Now, she was a respectable, pure blood witch, not a rebellious teenager. Or so she hoped.

A small noise echoed through the lavatory as the door opened. Someone else must have gotten up, but wasn't it still relatively early for the rest of the Slytherins? Serenity listened for footsteps. Maybe they weren't going to spend any extended period of time sucking up her peace. The light's flickered. Someone was definitely there, but Serenity couldn't hear them at all. She checked to make sure the door to the stall was locked. It was. She yelped as cold water abruptly began to pour from shower head. What the hell? Wasn't the water magically heated? She tried to turn it off, but more and more icy water drenched her. Serenity's bones ached with the fridgid temperatures. Shivering, she frantically tried to open the door. A thick layer of black ice formed around the lock.

"Help!" She screamed and rammed her body against the door. The water increased and it was getting harder for her to breathe.

"Please! Someone! I know you're there!" The lights went out and the water stopped. Serenity's breath billowed from her mouth in frosty clouds as she inched towards the door. Water dripped from her ivory skin as she reached out for the lock, praying for warmth on the other side. As her fingers brushed against the metallic lock the door burst open. A girl stood before her, glowing piercingly blue. Her robes were wet and tattered with streaks of dark liquid staining them. They looked incredibly old. Nothing like the robes they used at Hogwarts now. Her face was puffy with sharp tear lines iced from her eyes to her neck.

Those eyes… those incredibly blank, dead eyes, they stared into Serenity's soul. They gulped all the fear, all the secrets that she held so closely to her heart with just one look. She couldn't breathe as this thing continued to devour everything it could touch with its stare. Her stomach felt so tight that it felt like someone had casted the cruciatus curse on her. She struggled to move backwards, anything to put distance between herself and the entity.

Her foot stepped back into something warm. The transition in temperature broke her gaze and she looked down. Red. Dear god so much red. Horrified, she realized it was blood. More warm covered her body as the shower head kicked back on, sputtering the crimson liquid all over her. That rotting metallic smell filled her nose. It was everywhere. In her hair. In her eyes. She desperately wiped her eyes, removing the layer of blood.

A gust of wind slammed her back against the wall and she yelped as her head smacked against the tile. The world spun. Another weak scream barely escaped her lips as her assailant appeared before her. Her vision was fading and all she could see were those horrible eyes.

"Tainted Blood!" It rasped in her ear before she passed out completely.

She woke up on the floor of the shower, warm water still gently falling on her body, caressing her sleeping form. There was no blood. No... creature. She felt her head for the lump that surely would be there, but there wasn't even any pain. No. That wasn't possible. There was no way that she had just fallen asleep. Yes she had been tired, but never before had Serenity fallen asleep like that. No, that was all too real for her liking. A shiver ran up her spine. She needed to leave. Now.

Serenity practically ran from her shower, towel wrapped loosely around her chest. The door to the lavatory opened right as she opened the door to her shower. Her blood ran cold as she caught a glimpse of blue. A small female entered the room carrying a baby blue towel in her hand. Serenity relaxed, but only slightly. She was still distrustful of these people. For all she knew this girl could have been the reason for her little acid trip in the shower this morning. However, once this girl's eyes landed on Serenity's drenched form she looked even more surprised than Serenity did.

"Y-y-you can't be in here," the girl stammered out, looking very uncomfortable. Rage grew inside of Serenity. What, just because she enrolled in Hogwarts a little later than her means that Serenity wasn't allowed to use the same showers?

"Why? Why can't I be in here? These are the showers. It is a PUBLIC place meant for EVERYONE. You have NO right to tell me not to be in here, so you're just going to have to deal with it."

"You just can't! You-you're messing it all up!" Serenity stalked towards the girl.

"Oh is that why you attacked me? Because I am ruining your precious showers?" The girl looked confused.

"Attacked? I don't- Whatever. It doesn't matter. Just get out!" The girl pushed Serenity out the door and slammed it in her face. The gush of air pushed the clumps of wet hair from her face. Serenity huffed and walked back to her room. What an incredibly rude girl.

Serenity grabbed her school uniform and drew the curtains around her bed so she could have a little privacy while she changed. Most of the girls around her were still deeply asleep. She had no idea why that nasty girl was even up so early, classes didn't start till nine and breakfast wasn't far before that. She must have had some sort of pureblood complex about how she was entitled to the first clean shower before mud-muggle borns tainted it. What a load of crap.

Serenity gathered her things and left her dorms before the other girls woke up. The common room was all but empty except for a single boy reading calmly in front of the fire. She caught a glimpse of his platinum hair before she exited into the halls of Hogwarts. Emerging from the dungeons, soft morning light cascaded from the windows. It was the most natural light she had seen since her father dropped her off at the station the day before. The sunlight brought a safety to her that she could not quite understand, but she was thankful for it nonetheless.

At the end of the hall, she took a left and tried to conjure a mental image of the map she had just caught a glimpse of this morning. Was the library to the left? She thought it was to the left, but she also was pretty sure she got lost after passing the potions class room. Honestly, Serenity was surprised she made it out of the dungeons at all. She couldn't believe that first years weren't given maps of this place, or someone to just show them around until they got the hang of things.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she reached her destination. She pushed through the double doors. It was completely empty. Nice to know students weren't really concerned with getting extra study time in before classes started. Although, to be fair Serenity hadn't come there to study either, well at least not study for school. She was determined to find out what kind of curse or, or THING that little witch used to spook her this morning.

Her hands brushed against the spines of the books as she walked and quietly read the titles to herself.

"The Dark Arts Outsmarted, Confronting the Faceless, Guide to Advanced Occlumency…Ah! Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed." Perfect. There was no way that girl had used anything beyond basic to hex her with, especially since she didn't even have the intelligence to make a good excuse when confronted.

Nothing. There was nothing in there. Nothing of use anyway, just boogie hexes for first years. Could she have summoned something? Serenity seriously doubted it. Maybe this girl really didn't have anything to do with it. Maybe Serenity was just going crazy. Serenity felt a feeling of irony consume her. How greatly would it sting if her mind started to give as soon as she gained freedom. Perhaps that was why her father had kept her locked up all this time…

Serenity had been in the library for quite some time and she could see faces passing through the windows heading in the direction of the great hall. Gathering up her things she exited the library and followed them. Her stomach growled from the absence of last night's dinner. A hearty breakfast was in order.

The great hall was filled with activity as the students ate their meals. Excited chatter echoed around the room as the first years gossiped about how amazing it was to finally start school. The upperclassmen scoffed and rolled their eyes knowing that they had a lot more in store for them than the tomfoolery they surely were planning. Owls swooped in from the windows delivering congratulatory letters from parents and parcels filled with items forgotten from their homes. There was a loud crash as an owl crashed into Gryffindor table causing a bowl of biscuits to fly all over a group of students. Among them were the two boys that confronted Serenity on the train. They laughed at the ridiculous bird's attempt to deliver a message to a ginger girl sitting between them. She looked extremely flustered as she retrieved a small letter from the owl's beak and tried to shoo it away with her hands.

Serenity's heart ached for a moment while looking over at their table. It must be nice to be able to be so carefree. She contemplated going over to them for breakfast but quickly opted out. She had already caused enough commotion at the school and there really was no need for her to be causing even more fights between the two rival houses. Instead, she took a seat alone at the Slytherin table and began to pile food onto her plate. It surprised her how much food she was actually able to get down. Serenity never was a heavy eater, but something about the food at Hogwarts made her feel comforted.

Sitting further down the Slytherin table was the girl who had accosted her in the bathroom that morning. She had a very particular way about her that Serenity couldn't quite place. Everything about her seemed exactly in place down to the creases in her skirt. Even the way she ate her food seemed neat. Each food was placed carefully in sections on her plate so that they could not touch each other. The more Serenity watched the girl's curious display, the more she doubted that she could have had something to do with what happened earlier. This girl might be hostile but she seemed too… orderly to think up such a cruel hex for someone she didn't even know.

Her thoughts made her body itch as she abandoned the rest of her meal in search for answers. Something was wrong with that entire situation, she just didn't know what. She made it a ways down the long halls of the school before she heard the heavy sound of feet slapping against the stone floors. Turning, she saw the older boy from the train sprinting towards her carrying a satchel full of his school books.

"Hey!" He shouted as he shortened the distance between them huffing as he tried to regain his breath a little.

"Hello, Albus. Is there something I can help you with?" Serenity couldn't help but smirk at the little lines on his face as his brows furrowed together.

"Hey, that's not my name. I'm not Albus, I'm James. Speaking of names I still don't really know yours."

"Well Not Albus, maybe you should have been paying more attention during the sorting ceremony."

"Hey that's not fair, it's not like I could have known they would have someone so ho- I mean someone so old up there." He stammered for a second.

"I'm sorry what was that? Not sure I heard you there. Someone so what?" Serenity was amused.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Uh huh, sure you don't. What is it you wanted anyway Not James?"

"Well, NOBODY, I just wanted to see how you were. First day and all after being homeschooled must be a little intimidating after all."

"Why do you even care? You're a Gryffindor and I'm a Slytherin. We aren't exactly supposed to be seen being friendly." James looked confused for a moment before a trickle of air exploded from his lips into a laugh. Wheezing, he grabbed onto the nearby wall to regain his balance before wiping the tears from his eyes from under his glasses.

"Merlin, Nobody, who on EARTH have you been talking to?"

"What in heavens do you mean?" Serenity asked confused.

"Oh please, the nonsensical house rivalries ended after my father ended the war. What prick told you otherwise?"

"Well my father did."

"Oh, well, um, sorry I'm not saying that, um, your father is," he stammered.

"A prick?" She interjected laughing a bit.

"Yeah… I'm sorry if I said anything out of term."

"No it's quite alright. My father is a prick." They both laughed a little and looked at the ground.

"Well, I should probably get to class." Serenity said.

"Yeah… well is there anything you need before you go?" James asked almost desperately. He definitely liked her. He enjoyed how sarcastic she was for a Slytherin. It was true that the houses weren't actively fighting, but it didn't mean that Slytherins were always friendly towards him. Especially because of who his father is. She was just a refreshing person and he wanted to befriend her before everyone in Hogwarts figured out the same thing.

She brushed her hands through her hair before throwing them in the air.

"Well, if you happen to know about glowing ghost monsters that attack you in the shower I'd love to know."

He frowned, "No, I don't think I know anything about that particular topic."

"Figures." She turned to leave and James grabbed her shoulder.

"Well I might not know anything about your shower monster, but I can bet you my aunt knows something about it."

"Oh really? You bet, huh? What exactly do you bet?"

"Well, how about we make a little wager? If I find some information about your monster, you have to give me your name."

"Well what do I get if you can't find anything, which you won't ?"

"Good question!" He threw his arm over her shoulder and spun her to face the direction of class so that they walked together in discussion.